“You will,” she said at length. “A viper is poisonous, whether it wants to be or not.”
“But not all poison is bad. Sometimes it’s a medicine in disguise.”
Raikama blinked, taken aback. “What?”
“You told me that once, when someone tried to kill Father with a poisoned letter. Don’t you remember? You made an antidote with venom from your snakes.”
She studied me, a half smile forming on her lips. “You have a very good memory.”
“You saved him. That’s why I could never despise you.” I paused, testing out a word on my tongue. I ventured, “Mother.”
Her smile quickly dissolved. “I am not your mother, Shiori. You are not a child of mine. You will never be.”
Before I could stop her, she touched my eyes, and I forgot the memory for many, many years.
In the morning, Kiki danced on my nose, waking me with the snow shaken off her wings.Seryu wants you to meet him tonight by the river. He has news.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The lonely moon hung round and bright as a dragon’s eye. Freshly fallen snow chilled the air, leaving little time for second thoughts as I wound to the back of the fortress.
“A bit late to be heading out, Lina,” Pao said, not letting me pass. “It’s already dark.”
In the past all I had to do was suggest Chiruan had sent me, and Pao would have let me go anywhere. But Chiruan was in the dungeon. I held up my torch and my pail, mouthing a slew of nonsense:Mushrooms, ice, trout, river.
“Not so fast, not so fast,” Pao said, leaning forward. He grunted. “I don’t know how Takkan does it. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
That’s the point.I shook my basket at him and motioned in the direction of the kitchen.Need to go.
Pao harrumphed. “All right, go, go. But don’t linger—or I’ll tell Lady Bushian.”
Not needing to be warned twice, I scurried out.
Fireflies danced over the river, so many they looked like the sparks of a bonfire. Kiki sat on my shoulder as I crouched by the bank, my body trembling from the cold.
In the water, the full moon wavered, its silvery light making the frost shimmer.Seryu, I’m here.
I poked the end of my torch to the frozen river, watching the surface crack and fracture into thousands of interconnecting lines. I waited. The ice parted, and as the currents rippled and swirled underneath, two ruby eyes, large as quail eggs, glinted from within the watery tempest.
“You look better fed than last time,” greeted Seryu, taking on his human form in the water. As usual, iridescent gills sparkled on his cheekbones, and jade-green scales peeked out from his silk robes. But he looked different today. His hair was shorter, only to his chin, and for the first time, his eyes were devoid of all mischief.
“Better fed, and warmer. Then again, a paper busybody told me you’ve been staying in a castle, protected by Kiata’s finest sentinels. You didn’t tell me that one of them was your betrothed.”
Irritation prickled Seryu’s voice, which I didn’t understand.What difference does it make? For all he knows, I’m nobody.
“You may have a bowl on your head. But even a fool like Bushi’an Takkan can see that you’re hardly nobody.”
I glowered at the dragon.He isn’t a fool. If I didn’t know better, I would say you sound jealous.
“Me? Jealous of a mortal?” Seryu scoffed. “Dragons don’t bother with such petty emotions. Besides, I’m the grandson of the Dragon King. I have plenty of admirers of my own.”
How?I inquired.I thought you rarely surfaced.
“You humans aren’t the only ones capable of appreciating my grandeur,” retorted Seryu. His expression shuttered into a scowl. “At home, my reputation alone attracts dozens, no, hundreds of admirers!”
He heaved a woeful sigh. “But you’ve always been one of my favorites, Shiori,” he admitted, suddenly softening. “If you weren’t so…so human, I’d—”
You’d what?
